Author: Sam Moore

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John Krasinski has once again spoken about his openness towards taking part in a reunion of The Office.

The US version of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s mockumentary bowed out in May 2013 after nine seasons.

Talk about a revival of the show has lingered over the past few years, with Krasinski previously voicing his willingness to part in a potential reboot in 2018.

Speaking to Esquire in a new interview, Krasinski — who played Jim Halpert in the series — said that The Office meant “absolutely everything to me” and that he would “absolutely love” to do a reunion.

“I mean it is my beginning and my end. I’m pretty sure at the end of my career I’ll still be known for Jim. That was my first experience with Hollywood. It was the first creative family I’ve ever had,” Krasinski said.

“In many ways, they will always be the most important people in that most important experience in my career. So yeah, if they did a reunion, I would absolutely love to do it.”

Krasinski also recalled how he initially struggled to get cast in other roles after The Office ended due to people being too familiar with his character Jim.

“The Office was so big at the time, but I think a lot of people were afraid to cast certain cast members in anything else because they were just known as that one thing, which I completely understood,” he said.

“It wasn’t an aggressive anger towards it. It was just a reality that I think I wasn’t, if I’m honest, genuinely prepared for.”

Earlier this week, Krasinski’s Office co-star Jenna Fischer revealed that an emotional note her character Pam received from Jim was actually written by Krasinski himself.

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Joaquin Phoenix helped rescue a mother cow and her calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse two days after delivering a powerful speech at the Oscars which warned against “plundering” the planet’s natural resources.

Phoenix called for “the best of humanity” during his acceptance speech for Best Actor, which he won for his performance in the titular role in Joker, and also spoke about the plight of cows and their offspring.

Partnering with the animal rights group Farm Sanctuary, Phoenix visited a slaughterhouse in Pico Rivera, LA with members of the organisation two days after the Oscars.

The below short film begins with the actor having a respectful discussion with Anthony Di Maria, the CEO of Manning Beef, about the practices of the facility he runs.

Later on in the film, Phoenix is seen helping liberate the cow and her calf (who the actor later named Liberty and Indigo) from the facility, where they were then transported to a Farm Sanctuary-used facility.

In a statement released through the activist group L.A. Animal Save, Phoenix reflected on his experiences at the slaughterhouse — you can read it in full below.

“I never thought I’d find friendship in a slaughterhouse, but meeting Anthony and opening my heart to his, I realise we might have more in common than we do differences. Without his act of kindness, Liberty and her baby calf, Indigo, would have met a terrible demise. Although we will continue to fight for the liberation of all animals who suffer in these oppressive systems, we must take pause to acknowledge and celebrate the victories, and the people who helped achieve them.

“Shaun Monson, Amy Jean Davis, and the entire LA Animal Save community, have taken their pain of bearing witness and turned it into effective, diplomatic advocacy for the voiceless. As a result, Liberty and Indigo will never experience cruelty or the touch of a rough hand. My hope is, as we watch baby Indigo grow up with her mom Liberty at Farm Sanctuary, that we’ll always remember that friendships can emerge in the most unexpected places; and no matter our differences, kindness and compassion should rule everything around us.”

Phoenix’s next acting role has already been determined, with the actor set to link up with 20th Century Women director Mike Mills.

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Al Pacino has praised Eminem‘s live performance at the Oscars 2020.

The rapper performed ‘Lose Yourself’ during this year’s prize-giving event — although some viewers were left confused by the timing of the performance, given that there was no tangible link between this year’s Oscars and the rapper, nor the movie that the song featured in, 8 Mile.

Eminem later explained that he took up the invitation to perform ‘Lose Yourself’ at this year’s Academy Awards after missing out on the original opportunity to do so in 2002 when the track won an Oscar for Best Original Song.

Speaking on Wednesday (February 19) at the premiere for his new Amazon TV series Hunters, Pacino was asked for his take on Eminem’s turn at this year’s Oscars.

“I love Eminem,” the actor told Extra TV. “I happened to be standing up — I brought my three kids and I was looking for the other two, so I was in the back and the show was on.

“So I saw Eminem [performing ‘Lose Yourself’] and I just stopped and l looked at him.”

Asked if he was dancing to Eminem, Pacino replied: “Yeah, I guess; inside.”

Earlier this week, the video for Eminem’s song ‘Rap God’ surpassed one billion views on YouTube.

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Filmmaker Justin Kurzel has given an update on the forthcoming Shantaram TV series after it was put on hiatus this week.

An adaptation of Gregory David Roberts’ bestselling 2003 novel of the same name, the show features the likes of Charlie Hunnam, Radhika Apte and Michael M. Foster among its cast.

However, production on the show, which is due to air on Apple TV+, has now been halted after just two episodes had finished filming.

Variety reports that the hiatus was called due to a writing backlog. Shantaram‘s original showrunner Eric Warren Singer has now left the project after, it is claimed, he “had not completed all the necessary scripts”.

Speaking to NME at the London premiere of True History of the Kelly Gang, Kurzel gave his take on the current situation surrounding Shantaram.

“They’re just wanting to develop the scripts a bit more,” the Australian director said. “They’re looking at another showrunner coming on, and they’re just in a process at the moment of getting the scripts all really right.”

Kurzel, who directed the first two completed episodes of the adaptation, added that he was confident that production on Shantaram would resume after the hiatus.

“Yeah, that’s the plan,” he said. “It’s really exciting, the first two [episodes] are feeling really good. So I’m sure it’ll pick up after its hiatus.”

It is thought that Kurzel is under contract to direct five episodes of Shantaram‘s 10-episode debut season.

‘True History of the Kelly Gang’ arrives in UK cinemas on February 28

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Universal boss Donna Langley has spoken in a new interview about the failure of the studio’s ambitious ‘Dark Universe’ franchise.

The studio’s attempt at establishing a cinematic universe based on its classic ‘Universal Monsters’ film series kicked off in 2014 with the release of Dracula Untold.

However, the second ‘Dark Universe’ release, the Tom Cruise-starring reboot of The Mummy in 2017, was critically panned upon release and posted a disappointing return at the box office.

Production on a subsequent ‘Dark Universe’ film, The Bride of Frankenstein, was put on hold following the poor performance of The Mummy. Universal has since pressed on with producing stand-alone movies rather than incorporating them into their ‘Dark Universe’ franchise.

Speaking in a round table session with The Hollywood Reporter (which you can see in full above), Donna Langley, the chairman of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, acknowledged that the ‘Dark Universe’ was “a failed attempt” at “interlocking” the film studio’s characters.

“We had an attempt at interlocking our monsters and it was a failed attempt,” she said. “What we realised is that these characters are indelible for a reason, but there’s no urgency behind them and certainly the world was not asking for a shared universe of classic monsters.

“But we have gone back and created an approach that’s filmmaker-first, any budget range.”

In the same round table discussion, executives from Sony and Disney addressed the future of the Spider-Man movies following last year’s spectacular U-turn over its place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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Christian Bale has revealed that a number of his American Psycho castmates thought that he was “the worst actor they’d ever seen” during filming.

The acclaimed Mary Harron-directed 2000 movie, which starred Bale as the psychotic investment banker Patrick Bateman, was an adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s 1991 novel of the same name.

• Read more: 15 actors who underwent incredible physical transformations for film roles

Speaking to MovieMaker for a feature which looked back on the film 20 years on from its original release, Bale revealed that he was recently told by his American Psycho and Le Mans ’66 co-star Josh Lucas that his fellow actors weren’t impressed by Bale’s turn as Bateman during the shooting of the movie.

“Josh Lucas and I did a film together recently and he opened my eyes to something that I had been unaware of,” Bale told the publication, “with a laugh”.

“He informed me that all of the other actors thought that I was the worst actor they’d ever seen,” the actor continued.

“He was telling me they kept looking at me and talking about me, saying, ‘Why did Mary fight for this guy? He’s terrible.’”

Bale added: “And it wasn’t until [Lucas] saw the film that he changed his mind. And I was in the dark completely about that critique.”

Last month it was reported that Bale looks set to team up with director David O. Russell for the third time in a new untitled project.

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Actor Joe Cole has ruled out making a shock return to Peaky Blinders as his slain character John Shelby in future episodes of the show.

Cole’s character was killed off in a shooting during the fourth season of the BBC period drama.

While Tom Hardy’s character Alfie Solomons made a surprise return to Peaky Blinders in the most recent season of the show (after viewers were led to believe that he was gunned down by Tommy Shelby in season four), Cole has now moved to quash any lingering hope that John Shelby will be similarly resurrected.

“I think it’s hard to come back from that,” Cole told the Radio Times about the manner of John Shelby’s death in season four. “So I’m not sure!”

Season six of Peaky Blinders is currently in pre-production, with no release date set as yet.

Last week, Peaky Blinders beat Fleabag, Stranger Things, End Of The Fucking World and Top Boy to the prize for Best TV Series at the NME Awards 2020.

Speaking to NME after picking up the award, Peaky Blinders actor Harry Kirton confirmed that filming is set to start “soon” on the new episodes.

Anna Calvi, meanwhile, looks set to be involved in producing the score for Peaky Blinders season six after she worked on the soundtrack for the most recent season of the drama.

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